


like a spider

by TheDeviantSentByJericho



Category: Ranger's Apprentice - John Flanagan
Genre: /fh, Angst, Canon Divergence - Post-Skandia, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Exposition, Family Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Gen, Implied/Referenced Suicide, It's Worth Reading I Swear, Picnics, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Gilan (Ranger's Apprentice), Protective Halt O'Carrick, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicidal Will Treaty, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Trauma, Vibing, Well - Freeform, Will Treaty Has PTSD, all the romantic relationships are background, and i'll tag them romantically, and i'm seeing them as more qprs than romance, but it's not explicit because it's way too background, honestly i'm hcing halt as ace and greyro, idk ask me if you want it changed, ig, it's more, lol, once - Freeform, past trauma, post-Skandia, seriousness treated as crack, so much exposition, so you can see them however you want, they're referenced like, this is actually really fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-13 01:02:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29144889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDeviantSentByJericho/pseuds/TheDeviantSentByJericho
Summary: The life of a Ranger is a hard one. But there is joy in it._________Gilan: Treat spiders the way you want to be treated :DWill: killed without hesitation :DGilan, Halt, and Crowley: wILL nO-my favourite reader
Relationships: Crowley Meratyn/Halt O'Carrick, Gilan & Crowley Meratyn, Gilan & Halt O'Carrick, Gilan & Halt O'Carrick & Will Treaty, Gilan & Will Treaty, Halt O'Carrick & Will Treaty, Pauline duLacy/Halt O'Carrick
Comments: 16
Kudos: 45





	like a spider

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Imacatvoid](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imacatvoid/gifts).



Halt's little found family hadn't met up as much as any of them really wanted. 

Crowley was Commandant, of course, and Gilan had his own fief to tend to, not to mention Halt and Will's shenanigans. So there just wasn't _time_.

But every so often, they would make time to spend a day together, just the four of them. 

It had been six months since they'd returned from Skandia.

While they'd been together much of that time, it wasn't really 'family time'. The Rangers were all incredibly busy working, and in Halt and Will's cases, healing. Especially Will. Even just getting used to having other people around again, people who made noise and weren't outright trying to hurt them, was... difficult.  
And on a lighter note, Will had friends to get reacquainted with, and Halt- well. Halt wouldn't admit it, but he was enjoying his time with Crowley and Pauline.

Halt had been having nightmares. Nightmares about losing Will, mostly. Nightmares when he'd been too late, nightmares where Will died in the slave yards or in the forests, or fell to the weight of his own mind. There were nightmares where Halt _hadn't_ been banished for only a year, nightmares where he wasn't reinstated as a Ranger, or worse, where he was, but he wasn't Will's mentor anymore.  
After his failures, he wouldn't have been surprised if that particular nightmare had come true, at least in his darker moments. 

Overall though, Halt was okay. He'd always been resilient, and he had help, anyway.

Will was harder.

Will had also been having nightmares. But his nightmares were different. They weren't nightmares.  
They were memories.

Every so often, the nightmares wouldn't keep themselves to his dreaming either, and would interrupt Will's waking moments. There was no escape, and they'd interrupt his life at the most inconvenient moments, sending him right back into the slave yards and leaving him trembling and weak. Will was frustrated with himself, but Halt, the councillor he'd been seeing, and literally everyone else was incredibly patient and kind. They never judged him, and when they got upset they kept it under control and made it _absolutely clear_ that it wasn't **him** they were mad at.

Still, Will couldn't help but feel he was falling behind. This was in large part due to the fact he was. Or at least, he had been. He'd come out of Skandia a ruin; addicted to warmweed, wasted from inadequate food and warmth, and a year out of practice. With all his efforts, he'd gotten incredibly far, but he couldn't shake the feeling he was a disappointment.

He was broken, he was lost, he was worthless, he was used and beaten and _he wanted to die_.

The realization had scared him.

It had been a month since he'd told Halt. In that time, he'd... gotten better. The world seemed a little less hopeless, and he was better able to fight the thoughts than before. And when he couldn't, he knew he could rely on his friends. Even if he didn't always feel like they deserved to carry the weight for him, they always insisted they wanted to help. At the very least, he didn't have to shoulder it alone.

The man he'd been before Skandia was dead, and he'd never return. But that was okay. He'd be okay. They'd be okay.

So the four of them had taken the day off and ridden deep into the woods. They found a clearing, spread out their blankets in the sun, and Gilan immediately hit Halt in the face with water. After that, it was on.

Gilan cried out for help as he jumped mirthfully away from Halt's vengeance. Will looked between the two, uncertain but smiling. Crowley caught Will's eye and grinned widely before emptying his entire canteen directly at Gilan, without looking. Gilan let out a startled squeal, and Halt took advantage of his opponent's betrayal to dump his in turn, a dangerous gleam in his eye.

A few minutes later, Gilan was sprawled in the grass, sopping wet. Halt grunted as he sat down, leaning onto Crowley, who wrapped his arms around him. "I'm getting too old for this," muttered Halt. Crowley grinned. "Don't start," he teased, and Halt huffed back, burying his head in his friend's shoulder in an uncharacteristically trusting gesture. 

The other three men smiled at each other. 

A few moments later, Gilan let out a squeal and jolted to his feet. All of the other rangers were on their feet within a second, armed and ready to strike, but there was no sign of a threat. Gilan rubbed the back of his neck, abashed. "Just a spider," he admitted.

"Well don't stand about," Halt grunted. "Crush the darn thing!"

"Halt! You should treat spiders the way you want to be treated!"

Will couldn't help himself. "Killed without hesitation?"

_**"WILL!"** _


End file.
